I am interested in how Nature is personified and abused in 18th century novels, so it was interesting to read the poetry of Michael Field and compare it to Hemmans. In reading Michael Field, I found the imagery of nature to be sprinkled throughout and placed in very deliberate locations. The poems aren’t set in nature like Hemmans does, but rather used as objects or descriptions. Likewise, the organic is represented less wild and more cultivated in Field’s work.
For example, in XXIV of “Long Ago” the first line asks, “Why should I praise thee, blissful Aphrodite” further along explaining “Thou dost not guide, / Rather with conflict dire my mind divide” Aphrodite was the goddess “of the sea, of love, beauty, flowers, and seasons” so we can infer Field was suggesting this female goddess was clouding the narrator’s thoughts and potentially dividing his/her love.
Moving forward, the language is both figuratively and literally flowery. There is an easy, flowing rhythm to the poem, and names numerous natural plants, from the “To pluck me iris thou had’st sprung” to the “Gathering a bunch of tulips wild/ To feel the flowery hillside…” (211-217).
Flowers are often synonymous with the feminine, and can be connected to the sexuality of women as well. During the 18th century, it was very common for authors to associate the feminine with the natural "budding" process. In the late 18th century, “a venerable set of poetic commonplaces about girls, flowers, and budding romances…came to be recycled in novels…the language of bloom supplied novelists with a vehicle that allowed them to signify their female characters’ physical development and erotic availability” (Deidre 691).
One of the well-known instances of this can be found within Georgia O’Keeffe’s art. It was difficult to represent sexuality without repercussions, and women like O’Keeffe found other ways to explore the feminine.In the 1920’s, O’Keeffe experimented with portraying the intimate details of a flower, from a singular petal, to a collection. Many can be viewed as highly-sexual. The Black Iris is a good example.
“To pluck me iris thou had’st sprung/Through galingale and celandine;/Away, away, the flowers I flung/ And thee down to my breast I drew." (Michael Field, "Long Ago"
*Galingale is a root similar to ginger, and celandine is a flower in the poppy family.
I am interested in how Nature is personified and abused in 18th century novels, so it was interesting to read the poetry of Michael Field and compare it to Hemmans. In reading Michael Field, I found the imagery of nature to be sprinkled throughout and placed in very deliberate locations. The poems aren’t set in nature like Hemmans does, but rather used as objects or descriptions. Likewise, the organic is represented less wild and more cultivated in Field’s work.
For example, in XXIV of “Long Ago” the first line asks, “Why should I praise thee, blissful Aphrodite” further along explaining “Thou dost not guide, / Rather with conflict dire my mind divide” Aphrodite was the goddess “of the sea, of love, beauty, flowers, and seasons” so we can infer Field was suggesting this female goddess was clouding the narrator’s thoughts and potentially dividing his/her love.
Moving forward, the language is both figuratively and literally flowery. There is an easy, flowing rhythm to the poem, and names numerous natural plants, from the “To pluck me iris thou had’st sprung” to the “Gathering a bunch of tulips wild/ To feel the flowery hillside…” (211-217).
Flowers are often synonymous with the feminine, and can be connected to the sexuality of women as well. During the 18th century, it was very common for authors to associate the feminine with the natural "budding" process. In the late 18th century, “a venerable set of poetic commonplaces about girls, flowers, and budding romances…came to be recycled in novels…the language of bloom supplied novelists with a vehicle that allowed them to signify their female characters’ physical development and erotic availability” (Deidre 691).
One of the well-known instances of this can be found within Georgia O’Keeffe’s art. It was difficult to represent sexuality without repercussions, and women like O’Keeffe found other ways to explore the feminine.In the 1920’s, O’Keeffe experimented with portraying the intimate details of a flower, from a singular petal, to a collection. Many can be viewed as highly-sexual. The Black Iris is a good example.
“To pluck me iris thou had’st sprung/Through galingale and celandine;/Away, away, the flowers I flung/ And thee down to my breast I drew." (Michael Field, "Long Ago"
*Galingale is a root similar to ginger, and celandine is a flower in the poppy family.